Shadows of the Light
by AyuzawaMisa
Summary: Talon and Lux meet again after many years. This time, Talon has a mission, and Lux has a proposal to go with that...
1. Chapter 1

**Just an idea that hit me last night, and I just had to write it down. Leave a review, let me know if it's worth continuing. I do, in fact, have plans for this story. Enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 1: Reunion**

" _Sorry, Lux." Talon crouched on the windowsill, ready to jump._

" _Wait!" Lux held her hand out to him, unable to believe it. "Please don't tell me it was all a lie." Tears began to form in her eyes, and her heart felt like shattering._

 _Lux could see pain in Talon's eyes as he turned to face her. "I'm…" He choked up, as tears of his own began to form. "I never wanted to do this to you, but my country comes first. I'm sorry." Lux could tell he was sincere, but it did nothing to stop the pain._

 _A flurry of his cape and a final glint of moonlight shining on steel, and Talon was gone._

 _Lux broke down, curling up on her bed, as the dam broke and the tears began falling uncontrollably._

 _~~~ Years Later ~~~_

"Ugh, what a pain. I hate politics." Lux grumbled, climbing the stairwell. She was lucky to have been able to excuse herself from the dinner so early. Her mother usually didn't let her, calling it improper of a lady, forcing her to sit through hours of stupid politics debate. "Why must I marry that prince? This is so stupid."

Lux sighed. Her mother never cared how she felt. Now she was forced into a marriage with the crown prince of Demacia. Although she didn't want to, she couldn't really decline the request. Her parents didn't care about her, they just wanted high social standing. Lux wanted to just burn them all.

In addition, speaking of relationships and marriages just brought bittersweet memories to Lux's mind, of a certain handsome Noxian assassin who deceived her like no other. Lux's heart clenched at the thought of him. "Ugh… why can't I get over him…" She muttered, disappointed in herself.

Turning a corner, Lux was faced with two guards bleeding their lives out on the floor, and the door to the storage room flung wide open.

Instantly on high alert, Lux clutched her baton and tiptoed silently towards the room, casting a cloaking spell on herself in the process. Peeking inside, she heard quiet rustling in a corner of the completely dark room.

 _I've got you now._ Lux smiled to herself, throwing a light binding in the direction of the sound, as well as throwing up an artificial light to illuminate the room.

The infiltrator grunted as the light binding connected. Lux had a small moment of victory before she saw who it was. Shock and anger filled her entire being, and she had a powerful urge to cast final spark and burn them to ashes, but quickly regained her composure.

"Well well." Lux smirked, twirling her baton in one hand. "What have we here?"

The hooded figure in front of her turned quickly, slashing in a wide arc with a blade attached to his arm. Thankfully, the binding held, or Lux would have been in quite a bit of trouble.

"You can't break my binding that easily, can you?" Lux teased, moving out of range.

The figure didn't respond, and Lux could feel their cold glare burning into her.

"So." Lux began, dropping her friendly attitude. "What the hell brings you here once again, Talon?" Practically spitting out the name, Lux narrowed her eyes at the assassin.

When no response came, she continued her tirade. "Didn't break my heart enough last time? Want more information out of me? Oh, let me guess. It's for your great country isn't it? So great you had to deceive me and cast me aside?"

Talon visibly flinched, although he stayed silent. "Come on, say something." Lux demanded, fixing the assassin with an icy gaze.

Talon looked away and refused to utter a word.

"Fine." Lux threw her hands up. "Just stay here in this binding. I'm going to get Garen, let him figure out how he wants to deal with you."

She turned to stomp out, but was stopped in her tracks by a hand grabbing her arm. Talon roughly pulled Lux back into the room and closed the door behind her, pinning her to it.

Lux's eyes widened. "How'd you break-"

Talon silenced her with a finger on her lips. "I have my ways." He smirked, releasing her.

"Fine, what the hell do you want?" Lux spat, not dropping her glare. She had no idea how he had broken the binding, but he basically had her trapped now.

Talon crossed the room and sat down on one of the many boxes lining the wall and scattered across the floor. Flipping his hood off, he picked up a book from the floor, which he had dropped in his shock from being discovered.

"This." Talon tossed it to Lux. "Take a look."

Catching the book awkwardly with her free hand, Lux leaned her baton on the wall, and sat down on the ground against the door, flipping through the book.

Lux saw some recipes for spells and for forging weapons, armor, and the such, but none that she felt Talon would be interested in.

"And?" Lux asked, still wary of the assassin. Shutting the book, she glanced up at him. "What does Noxus want with this book?"

Talon hesitated before answering, "This is not a mission from High Command."

Lux raised an eyebrow. "Then what's it for?"

Talon paused, as if debating whether or not to go on. "Several months ago, my father, Marcus, was kidnapped and taken away."

"And?" Lux pressed, opening up the book again.

"A few days ago, I came by a piece of information that he's being held by the Black Rose. I remembered stories about a certain sword, and eventually gathered that it's location was written in this book, and that the book was in your possession."

Lux had heard stories, but she wasn't completely sure what the Black Rose was. All she knew was that its members were extremely well-versed in black magic.

"So, where is it? And what does this sword do?" Lux glanced at the book in her hands doubtfully.

"Here." Talon held a hand out for the book, and Lux tossed it to him. As he flipped through it, he asked, "You have heard of Leblanc, yes?"

Lux nodded. The head of the Black Rose, and their strongest mage. She didn't know much about anything farther than that. "What in there is going to help you combat Leblanc? Do you even know where the Black Rose is?"

"I have leads." Talon replied as he searched for what he wanted. Pausing on a particular page, he held the book out to Lux. "Take a look at this."

Taking the book, Lux resumed her former position and began reading. What Talon wanted was a sword called Oathbreaker, evidently dating from a bygone age, far before Noxus and Demacia.

"The blade detects illusions. Leblanc uses illusions to deceive her enemies and win her battles. I'm not quite sure how, but it'll help me tell the difference between illusion and reality when fighting Leblanc."

"True, it does say that here." Lux mumbled, deep in her reading. "But it also says here that the blade is hidden inside a tomb in the ruins of Urtistan."

"Yes. But there's also a map on how to get there. And now that I know where it is, I'm going to get it." Talon gaze darkened. "I WILL defeat Leblanc."

"Wait." Lux said, holding up a hand. "Do you know how far away that is? It's suicide!"

"Maybe." Talon shrugged, eyes showing his determination. "Maybe not."

Lux sighed. "Guess I won't be able to stop you."

Talon rose, a relieved look on his face. "Will you let me go?"

Lux held a hand out to stop him. "Hold on Talon. Don't think you can just ignore your past deeds and leave just like that. We need to have a talk."

Talon's froze, and a guilty look came over his face. "Look, Lux… I'm…"

"You're sorry?" Lux shot up, slamming the book shut. "You were going to avoid the issue altogether, weren't you? So are you actually?"

Talon looked away, unable to look Lux in the eye.

"Remember the last words you said to me before you threw me to the curb?" Lux fumed. "If you don't, they were 'I'm sorry'. I'M sorry, but your apologies don't mean anything."

Talon took a deep breath. "Lux, I never meant to hurt you like that. My mission was to gather information as a servant. I never intended for that to happen."

"So I was just a tool?" Lux felt her anger fading, to be replaced by hurt. Why did she have to still love this man? "Everything we did, it was all a lie, wasn't it?"

"No." Talon said resolutely. "It wasn't. I really did love you. It was real."

"And now?" Lux pressed, hoping for something she knew probably wasn't there.

Talon hesitated. "I don't know." He admitted. "Depends on your definition of love. But I do like you."

Lux sighed to herself, letting go of her anger. That answer was quite the pleasant surprise. Lux suddenly blurted out, "Take me with you. I'll help you defeat Leblanc."

Talon's eyes widened. "It's dangerous out there. You could die."

Lux glared. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Besides, I'm tired of Demacian politics. I want some adventure."

Talon was silent for a while, as if weighing his options. "What's in it for you? Don't you hate me?"

"You can redeem yourself on this adventure." Lux smiled, and she noticed Talon's cheeks color slightly. "I'll tell you the other conditions later. So, how about it?"

"Hey, that's not fair." Talon protested. "I don't know what I'm getting into here."

"It's your fault for betraying me like that." Lux complained, putting on a cute pout.

"Fine." Talon finally agreed, taken aback by Lux's actions. "Fair enough."

Lux beamed. "So when do we leave?"

"It's late, so let's leave tomorrow night. Pack your stuff. We travel by night while in Demacia." Talon replied strictly. "I'll come back for you in your room at 12:00 midnight. Be ready, and bring the book with you."

"How do you remember where my room is?" Lux raised an eyebrow.

Talon smirked. "I've come back once in awhile. You know, you moan quite a bit when y-"

"Okay, okay!" Lux clamped her hand over Talon's mouth to prevent him from continuing, her cheeks reddening. "You pervert! Pervert!"

"I'm kidding!" Talon laughed, breaking away. "I just have good memory. Good trait to have as an assassin. But now I have confirmation that you do actually plea-"

"Out!" Lux pushed Talon towards the window, blushing furiously.

Talon complied, letting out one last chuckle. Silently sliding open the window, Talon turned, crouching on the sill. "Tomorrow at midnight, Lux. See you then."

And then he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys, here's chapter 2 :D**

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 **Chapter 2**

Lux stood on the hill, staring down at the capital city in the distance. The sun was rising, bathing the entire city in a golden glow. The tall spires of the palaces and houses of royalty almost reached the level of the hill they were currently camped on.

"Having regrets?" Talon asked. He was lying on the ground behind Lux, studying a map of Valoran with his backpack as a pillow.

"No, not really." Lux turned away from the city she'd lived in her whole life and crouched down next to the assassin. "So, what's the plan?"

Talon pointed to a location on the map just a couple miles east of the capital city. "I'm meeting up with a friend. She'll give us horses and some supplies for the journey."

Lux raised an eyebrow. "She approves of you travelling with a Demacian? You do know we're breaking basically every law in existence."

Talon chuckled. "She isn't a Noxian. She couldn't care less. Besides, only you are. As a Noxian, Demacian laws don't apply to me. "

Lux sighed. "Whatever. Who is this person?"

"You'll see." Talon rose and rolled up the map. "Let's get going. It won't be long before they wake up and figure out you aren't there anymore."

"Yes. Let's." Lux shouldered her backpack, taking one last glance at the shimmering city by the sea before turning her back and following Talon into the wild.

Grassy plains stretched into the distance, with a smudge in the distance that marked a forest. Talon pointed to the smudge. "That's where we'll get our horses. If we move fast enough, we can get there as the sun sets. It should be far away enough that they won't find us, and we'll have a nice campout to stay the night at. I'll lay out the whole plan for you there, and we'll set out for Urtistan in the morning with our horses."

"Sounds good." Lux was brimming with excitement, anxious to be on their way. She rarely left the confines of Demacia, and when she did, she was usually under heavy protection from guards. She never had the chance to do anything fun.

"Are you hungry?" Talon asked as they began to walk.

Lux had been so caught up in the excitement of adventure that she had failed to notice her deprived stomach until Talon mentioned it. "Um…" Lux glanced at Talon sheepishly in embarrassment. "Yes…"

Talon laughed, and pulled some bread and some slices of meat out of his backpack. "Here." He tossed it to her. "It's not much, but it should last you until lunchtime."

"Thanks." Lux mumbled, beginning to eat.

True to Talon's word, it was sunset when they reached the edge of the forest. They had travelled nonstop, eating lightly for lunch on the way. Demacian patrols were sure to have been sent out, and Talon didn't want to risk being caught by setting up a fire and eating.

As they entered the cover of the trees, what little sunlight left faded, leaving their surroundings in darkness. "Lux." Talon whispered. "Can you see me?"

Lux squinted but could only make out the faintest silhouette. "Not really."

"Here." Lux felt Talon grab her hand, pulling her along as he led her deeper into the forest. Even though she knew it was only to prevent them from getting separated, she couldn't help but blush a little at the contact.

After about half an hour of carefully navigating through the dense forest, they came out into a clearing of sorts. The moon was rising, casting faint light on their surroundings, and also illuminating the huge tree in the middle of the clearing.

Before Lux could blink, a group of men dropped from the tree, with more appearing from the underbrush behind them to cut off their escape route.

"Hands up." One of the men, obviously their leader, said. "We'll be taking all your things."

Lux gulped nervously, and glanced at Talon who seemed completely unfazed. "Lux." Talon whispered as they moved back-to-back, quiet enough that the men couldn't hear. "5 archers. At your 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8. Think you can take care of them?"

Lux put her hands up, but made sure she was in a position to quickly grab her baton. Scanning the treetops, she saw that there were indeed archers in the locations Talon had mentioned. They were barely noticeable, only slight moonlight glinting off of arrowheads giving them away.

"Got it." Lux whispered back. "It'll get very bright though."

"I'm counting on you." Talon breathed, as the men closed in. One of them reached out to take Talon's bag, and he sprung into action. Grabbing the man's arm, he twisted it around, causing a cry of pain from the assailant.

At the same moment, Lux cast a flashbang, blinding the men around them. Withdrawing her baton, she spun and fired two beams of light at the trees in quick succession. Both hit their marks, and Lux saw two archers fall from the branches they were perched on

The remaining three archers were on the same side, so Lux threw up a barrier of light, blocking their arrows. Meanwhile, Talon had taken advantage of the flashbang to incapacitate more than half of the men, but there were just too many.

"Talon! Behind you!" Lux screamed as a man prepared to stab Talon in the back. He began turning, but Lux could see he was too late. Her energy concentrated on holding the barrier, she could do nothing but watch in horror. "TALONNNNN!"

Suddenly, a green wave flew out of the forest, cleanly slicing the man in two. The threat averted, Talon whirled and threw four daggers with inhuman speed, taking out a man who had risen and was approaching Lux, as well as another 3 who were just recovering from the flashbang.

"Lux, I got the archers. You clean up here." Talon sprinted past her and into the shadows of the forest, disappearing from sight.

Lux turned to see all the remaining men dead, and a woman standing there, shaking blood off a massive sword, that seemed to be multiple broken pieces held together by green energy. As Lux watched, the additional pieces vanished and the blade returned to a broken state. The woman flipped off her hood and Lux could see that her hair was pure white, falling around her shoulders rather attractively.

The woman looked up and met Lux's gaze. Smiling, she approached the mage, offering her hand. "Hey. I'm Riven. You must be the poor soul who got roped into Talon's adventure."

Lux smiled shyly and took her hand. "H-hi… I'm Lux."

At the mention of the name, a knowing smile spread across Riven's face. "Ah… he's mentioned you before."

Before Lux could respond, Talon dropped from a tree next to them. "Hey, Riv. Thanks for the save."

Riven grinned. "You owe me another one."

"Hey." Talon said, raising a hand. "Last time didn't count. I had it under control."

Riven raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything, Talon continued. "Anyway, Riv, look at this." He handed her something.

When Riven took it, her eyes immediately widened. "How did they get their hands on this?"

"Noxus high command." Talon responded grimly. "It has to be."

"What is it?" Lux asked, curious.

Riven held it up so Lux could see. It was the front half of an arrow, and on the arrowhead was smeared a black substance. "See that black stuff? That's nightshade, one of the most lethal poisons on Runeterra. A single cut, no matter how small, will kill you."

"The thing is," Talon cut in, gesturing to the poison. "The plant it's made from only grows in very rare places in the Shadow Isles. To my knowledge, it's recipe, as well as the locations of the plants, is only known to the Noxian high command. It's a secret they guard very jealously."

Lux frowned. She had actually never heard of this nightshade before. "Are you saying that was a planned ambush? There's no way high command would so easily give this stuff away to common thugs, would they?"

Talon nodded. "For some reason, they want us captured." He paused, thinking. "Or, well, they want me captured."

Riven dropped the arrowhead on one of the bodies, shaking her head. "Swain's a greasy bastard, isn't he?"

"Yep." Talon agreed, sighing. "Anyway, let's get going. I'm hungry."

Riven pouted. "Is that all I'm good for?"

Talon laughed as he began to walk off. "I never said that."

Riven sighed, shaking her head as she went after Talon, Lux close behind.

A couple of minutes later, they emerged into a smaller clearing, with a large tent on one side, and a small fire in the center. Three horses were tethered to a tree on the side of the clearing.

A very nice smell permeated throughout the clearing, and Lux's stomach rumbled involuntarily.

Talon turned to her, eyebrow raised, causing the mage to blush a deep crimson, and turn away in embarrassment.

Riven laughed. "Well, let's eat then."

After the meal, Lux laid back on the grass and sighed in content. A wave of exhaustion suddenly swept over her, and she realized she'd been awake since the morning of a day ago. Turning on her side, Lux immediately drifted off to sleep.

Lux awoke to the grey dawn light filtering into the tent. Sitting up, Lux looked around, and saw Talon fast asleep in the opposite corner. _He must have carried me in here._ Lux blushed a little just thinking about it.

Shaking off those thoughts, she exited the tent to find Riven sitting next to the remaining coals of the fire, warming up her hands, hood pulled low over her face. The exile looked up at Lux as she appeared.

"Good morning." Riven smiled.

"Good morning." Lux responded as she moved to sit next to her.

"Did you sleep well?" Riven asked, flipping off her hood.

"Mhm." Lux nodded. "You're really good at cooking."

Riven laughed lightly. "Thanks. I have been doing this for awhile, after all."

They fell into a comfortable silence, only broken when Talon flipped open the tent entrance, already dressed in his purple assassin's attire. Lux had opted to leave her armor at home, bringing only her baton for the sake of travelling fast.

"Good morning." Riven greeted.

"Hey." Talon yawned as he made his way to the fire as well. "We should get going soon."

Riven rummaged around in her pack and brought out some bread, tossing some to each Talon and Lux. "Eat up then we'll pack up here and go. I'll come with you until we get to the marsh. I'm heading back to Noxus."

After eating and packing up their belongings, the three of them mounted horses and set off towards the East.

"What are you going to do about Swain?" Riven asked as they travelled, seeming worried. The two Noxians rode side-by-side, Lux behind them listening in.

"I don't know." Talon frowned. "I'm not sure how he found out I was in Demacia, much less in that forest."

"Who knows that you're acting on your own accord?"

"Katarina, of course." Talon replied. "But there's no way she'd tell him. She-" He cut himself off, as if he noticed something wasn't right.

He whipped around, a dagger appearing in his hand, and threw it with lightning speed up at the trees.

There came a squawk, and a large crow flew out, blood dripping from its wing where Talon's dagger nicked it. Before it could get away, Talon threw a fan of four more daggers, catching the crow in the chest, as well as both wings. It fell to the ground, twitching as its lifeblood drained into the dirt.

Dismounting, Talon knelt next to the fallen creature. Glancing over, Lux saw that the crow had six eyes, three on each side of its head. She shivered involuntarily, a little creeped out by the creature, even though it was dead. "Yep." Talon looked up at Riven. "It's Swain. This thing is definitely one of his."

Riven grimaced as Talon pulled out his daggers and remounted his horse. "Well we better get going then. And fast."

"Yea. Let's go." Talon turned to Lux. "Sorry about all this. I had no idea Swain had turned on me."

"It's fine." Lux replied. She couldn't help but be excited about the whole situation. "This just makes it more exciting, don't you think?"

Talon blinked before cracking a smile. "You're really strange, you know?"

"I've gotten that before."

There was a short pause, and Talon chuckled and said, "Ok well, let's get out of here."

The real adventure had only just begun.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After parting with Riven at the marsh, Talon and Lux turned South, heading towards the Great Barrier. The entire day was spent in high alert, surveying the area around them for Swain's minions. Thankfully, the Noxian general had not yet discovered their location. Talon had ditched his signature purple outfit for normal travelling gear, not wanting to be recognized.

"We're going to need to head East a little farther and go through the pass." Talon mused as they rode. "We can't just go over the mountains."

"Why didn't we just go with Riven then?" Lux asked, a little disappointed that they had parted with the exile. She had grown to like the white-haired woman. "Noxus is to the East, right?

"It's faster to go North around the marsh if you're heading to Noxus. We'd have to go around the whole swamp, and that would take days." Talon explained.

"Oh." Lux looked up to see that they were approaching a small town of sorts.

"We're stopping here for the night." Talon said, glancing up at the sky. "It's getting dark. Plus, I know a few people in the town. I actually stop here quite often." He added with a small grin.

Lux rolled her eyes, not liking the sound of that. "Okay then."

"Also, put your hood on and pull it down." Talon advised. "Don't want anyone recognizing you."

As they rode into town, few pairs of eyes turned to them as they passed, most people too busy talking and laughing amongst themselves to notice.

Before Lux knew it, they had reached a stable, and Talon dismounted, approaching the stable keeper, who looked up as they entered. He had that rugged look to him, and was dressed in work clothes. "Hey Quince." Talon greeted as he neared. "Long time no see. It's two this time."

Quince smiled in greeting as Talon walked up, rising and clasping his hand. "Sure thing, Jay. It's been awhile." His eyes shifted over to Lux, who had also dismounted and had walked up behind Talon, flipping her hood off. She had no idea how Talon wore his hood all the time. It was rather uncomfortable. "Who's that? Girlfriend?"

Talon glanced back at Lux, a glint in his eye. Lux felt her cheeks heat a little at the question, and turned to the side unconsciously.

"Yep." Talon turned back to Quince with a smirk. "Sorry, she's mine."

Lux's eyes widened a little, and her cheeks flushed crimson. Even though she knew Talon was saying it just to mess with his friend, Lux's heart couldn't help but race.

Quince laughed, slapping Talon's arm. "You gotta teach me how you do it sometime. Anyway, how long you going to be in town?"

"Probably only one night." Talon responded.

"Aw, that sucks. Want to go out for a drink later?"

"Nah." Talon declined with a chuckle. "I've got to take care of her." He tilted his head towards Lux.

"Alright." Quince nodded in understanding.

"Anyway, these two are in your care." Talon handed the reins for the two horses to the man, who took them.

"Anything for you, my friend. Drop by again soon." Quince turned with a wave, leading the horses away.

Lux was shaken out of her thoughts by Talon, who waved a hand in front of her face. "You okay?" He asked. "You're all red. You got a fever?"

Lux started, and fixed Talon with a glare. "That was mean. You're a liar."

Talon laughed. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Come on, let's get to the inn."

Lux pouted, following Talon out of the stables. "You definitely know what I'm talking about."

Talon tilted his head, glancing over at her with a smirk. "You know, you're really cute when you're annoyed."

Lux blushed even harder, if that was possible, and glanced at the ground, her heart pounding. "Shut up. Let's just go." She said, pushing Talon ahead of her.

Talon laughed. "Alright, alright." He reached out and pulled her hood on for her, before turning and leading the way to the inn.

The inn was nothing special, the only thing distinguishing it being the sign in front of the door that read "Hotel".

"One room for one night." Talon walked up to the innkeeper, placing some silver on the counter.

The innkeeper shuffled through a book, then handed Talon a key, saying with a chuckle, "Room 204. Haven't seen you in awhile, Jay. How you been?"

Talon half-smiled. "Been great. Haven't been around these parts recently. Good to see you though, man." Picking up the key, he twirled it around his finger before heading up the stairs to the left of the counter.

Lux followed mutely, ignoring the curious eyes of the innkeeper on her as she passed.

As they ascended the stairs, Lux remarked, "You seem quite popular with these people."

"Well, I stop by here a lot on my missions to Demacia." Talon replied. "They all know me now. Or well, they know Jay. Can't let them know who I really am, now can we?"

Lux hurried her pace, somewhat fearful of being left behind. It wasn't long before they reached room 204.

Upon entering, Lux immediately shed her cloak and jumped on the bed, burying her face in the pillow and letting out a deep sigh of content. The bed was surprisingly soft, and Lux almost fell asleep right then and there.

She heard Talon chuckle, and a second later, something hit her back. Raising her head, Lux found herself covered by Talon's cloak, which he had thrown over her.

Lux lifted the hood and glared out at Talon. "Can you not?"

Talon laughed, dropping his bag on the floor and twirling their room key around his finger. "Come on. Let's go eat. I'm tired of eating bread all day."

As if on cue, Lux felt a pang of hunger, reminding her that she'd eaten nothing but a couple slices of bread the whole day.

Talon headed for the door without waiting for a response, and Lux hurried after him, picking up her cloak and pulling the hood on. As they exited the hotel, Lux looked up and saw someone painstakingly familiar. He was currently talking to people, presumably asking about her. "Talon." She whispered, gesturing down the road. "It's Xin Zhao. They're here."

"Damn, they found us fast." Talon whispered. "It's fine, we're going this way." He turned away from Xin, leading the way to the restaurant.

Lux followed, trying not to be too suspicious. Luckily, Xin didn't notice them, and they reached the restaurant without further incident.

After sitting down and ordering, Talon sighed and laid back in his chair. "You know, this would be so much easier if I was by myself."

Lux pouted, crossing her arms. "Then why don't you just let them take me?"

Talon smiled, leaning forward onto the table and reaching out to pinch Lux's cheek. "Because annoying you is the funniest thing ever."

Lux slapped Talon's hand away indignantly, turning to the side. "I hate you."

Talon laughed, retracting his hand and leaning back again. "Anyway, the fact that Xin is here is a problem."

"Is it now?" Lux asked sarcastically, still kind of annoyed at Talon's responses.

"Come on. You know I'm kidding." Talon pleaded, although his voice still had a hint of a laugh in it.

"Hmph." Lux couldn't help but begin to smile at Talon's infectious attitude, annoyed at herself for being unable to stay mad at him. "What do you propose we do about Xin then?"

"Not much we can do." Talon sighed. "We'll leave as early as possible tomorrow morning. We just need to avoid them for a couple days then we'll be at the Great Barrier."

Lux nodded in agreement, trusting Talon's judgement. She wasn't sure what Demacia would do with Talon if they were caught, and she definitely didn't want to risk it.

After the meal, they returned to the inn, carefully scanning their surroundings for any sign of Xin or his party. They were nowhere to be seen, but Lux still wasn't able to relax until they entered their room, upon which she let out a huge breath of relief.

Talon immediately crossed the room and closed the blinds, while Lux flopped down on the bed, enjoying the fluffiness of the mattress.

"You wanna shower first?" Talon asked, and Lux felt him poke her in the side.

The mage realized she hadn't showered since leaving on this adventure with Talon, the thought instantly causing her to feel a little gross. "Yea." She responded, hopping off the bed. "Sure."

Picking out a set of spare clothes from her backpack, Lux went into the bathroom and closed the door. Turning the water on, she tested it and adjusted the knob until the temperature was right before stripping and stepping into the shower.

Lux sighed in content as the hot water washed away all the dirt and grime she had collected over the past few days. She turned her face up to the stream of water, letting it flow over her.

She still couldn't believe how quickly her life had changed. Just two days ago she had been sitting at a table discussing political garbage. Lux greatly preferred travelling around with her beloved assassin. It was much more exciting.

After scrubbing the soap all over herself until she no longer felt dirty, Lux stepped out, pulling a towel from the rack next to the shower and drying herself. Dressing, she collected her old clothes and exited the bathroom, hanging the towel back on the rack. She found Talon sitting on the bed, nose-deep in the book.

"I'm done." Lux announced, tossing her clothes over her bag. "Your turn."

Talon looked up as she approached. "Is it a thing for girls to shower very thoroughly? Katarina also takes a very long time in the shower."

Lux shot him a glare as he rose and went over to his bag. "I was just thinking about stuff, okay?"

Talon laughed. "Alright, fair enough."

Lux pulled the covers up and slid under, moving to the far side of the bed and facing the wall. "I'm going to sleep."

Talon made a sound of agreement behind her, and she heard the sounds of a door opening and closing, then the shower turning on. Lux pulled her shirt off, tossing it across the room to land on her bag. She preferred to sleep in underwear, finding it more comfortable, especially when the bed was soft.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her, and Lux found she could no longer keep her eyes open. She drifted off to sleep, dreaming about what was to come.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys, as a note, I'll try to stay as true to the lore as possible, but I might alter some small things here and there to fit the story better. Enjoy ch. 4!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Lux awoke to Talon shaking her shoulder. Sitting up, Lux rubbed her eyes, vision a little blurry. "What is it?"

"We should go." Talon said, already dressed. "Sun's rising soon."

Yawning, Lux crawled out from under the covers, forgetting she was dressed in only her bra and panties.

Talon coughed, and Lux looked up to find his gaze directed at the wall, a slight blush adorning his cheeks.

After realizing her mistake, Lux actually felt rather triumphant instead of embarrassed. It was nice to make Talon flustered when it was usually the opposite.

Smiling to herself, Lux dressed, then turned to Talon. "Did you like what you saw?" She teased.

"Ahem." Talon cleared his throat, face still red. "Just go get ready."

"Okay." Lux giggled, skipping over to the bathroom to do her morning routine.

When she was finished, she exited the bathroom to find Talon waiting, staring out into space. "Let's go." She picked her bag up, heading towards the door.

The innkeeper was dozing at the desk, chin propped up on his palm, when Talon and Lux descended the stairs. "We're leaving." Talon said, dropping the keys on the counter in front of him.

He started at the sound of the keys, and turned to look up at Talon. "Oh. Leaving quite early, aren't you, Jay?"

"Yea, well, we've got a long ways to go." Talon smiled. "Thanks, man. See you."

"No problem." He waved a goodbye to Talon, sticking the key back into a drawer.

The slightest bit of grey-dawn light was penetrating the darkness when Lux and Talon exited the hotel and headed for the stables. The streets were deserted, the remnants of last night's parties scattered around the edges of the street and sidewalks.

"It's kind of… eerie." Lux pulled her hood down low over her face to block the chilly air.

Talon chuckled. "Any town would look like this at this ungodly hour."

"I know, but…" Lux glanced around them. "Knowing Xin is somewhere here makes it a little scary."

As they neared the stables, Talon suddenly dropped into a crouch. "Something's wrong." He whispered, pulling a few knives out.

The lights were on in the stables, and Lux could vaguely make out noises coming from it. "Stay close to me." Talon warned. "And don't take your baton out until you have to."

When they circled around to the entrance, Lux saw Quince, gagged and tied to a chair. He was moving around and trying to escape, causing the noises Lux had heard. Upon seeing Talon, his eyes widened and he began saying something, which came as muffled gasps through the gag.

"Well…" Talon muttered under his breath. "This is so obviously a trap."

Lux glanced around, but was unable to spot anyone around, or on the rooftops. "Are they hiding in the stable?" She whispered.

"Most likely." Talon nodded. "In the rafters. Expect them as we enter. I can't just leave my friend like this."

Talon slowly walked into the stable, Lux following right behind. He made as if to untie Quince, then produced a handful of knives from his cloak and flung them at the rafters. The sound of metal hitting flesh was heard, and a couple men fell with cries of pain, hitting the floor with loud thumps.

More men jumped from the rafters, targeting Talon. He dodged the spear thrust of the first man who reached him, grabbing the shaft and pulling the man close, upon which he knocked him out with a swift elbow to the stomach. Taking the spear, he subdued the remainder of the men with expertise, until none were left standing.

"Impressive." A voice spoke with a light chinese accent, and Xin Zhao dropped down from the ceiling, spear at the ready. "To think you could defeat my squad that easily. Who exactly are you?"

Talon chuckled humorlessly. "Just a traveller who doesn't enjoy being ambushed."

"You expected that ambush." Xin said. "You have experience. You are no common traveller."

"I used to serve in the army." Talon explained smoothly. "I learned from my missions deep in Noxus. But I quit a couple years ago."

As he spoke, he moved, untying Quince and removing the gag. The man instantly jumped up, pointing at Xin in rage. "Who do you think you are, barging in here and ambushing my friends? Excuse yourself."

"One moment, please." Xin held up a hand. "I'm sure you've heard that Luxanna Crownguard has gone missing. From reports, you two seem quite suspicious." He gestured to Lux. "I would like to see the identity of your friend there, if you don't mind."

Talon glanced back at Lux, and mouthed, "Can you do something?"

Luckily, Lux was ready for this, and had spent the time of the exchange manipulating the light around her face to change her appearance. It was a difficult spell to cast, even for Lux, and it couldn't last very long before all her magic power was used up, but it was perfect for situations such as this one.

Lux flipped her hood off, and Talon's eyes widened in surprise, as well as Xin's. "Yes?" She asked innocently, hoping Xin wouldn't be able to recognize her voice from one word.

Xin bowed, recovering swiftly. "I deeply apologize. I have made a mistake. I will not bother you again." By this time, many of the men were stirring, marking a great time for Lux and Talon to leave.

Talon turned back to Xin with a glare. "You're lucky I was careful to not kill any of your men. Good day."

He walked past the gladiator, stepping over the bodies of the men groaning on the ground, and retrieved their two horses, leading them back to Lux.

As they mounted the horses, Talon turned to Quince. "Sorry about this, Quince. I'm leaving these men to you. See you."

Quince seemed confused, glancing between Lux and Talon, but otherwise, he seemed alright. "Sure…" He waved a goodbye. "See you, Jay."

Lux pulled her hood back on as they exited the stable, cancelling the spell before all her magic power disappeared.

"Damn." Talon chuckled as they rode out of town. "Didn't know you could pull a trick like that."

Lux smirked, feeling satisfied with herself. "You don't know many things about me."

"I guess." Talon shrugged. "You hungry? I restocked on bread and water while you were asleep."

Lux shook her head. "Not really. Maybe later."

"Alright. Anyway, we should travel fast for a while." Talon said. "Quince saw you the first time, so he's bound to be confused. He might connect the dots."

"Agreed." Lux nodded, whipping the reins.

They slowed down when the town was out of sight, and continued to ride in comfortable silence, with the only exchange happening when Lux wanted some bread or water.

It was around noon when Talon glanced up at the sky and said, "Let's take a break. We've travelled quite a distance today."

They were currently traversing a large green grassland, with trees and other vegetation scattered across the landscape like paint splashed onto a canvas. Talon dismounted, leading his horse to the shade of a tree and tying it to the trunk, allowing the animal to graze on the land. Lux followed suit, then sat down against the trunk of a nearby tree, watching them eat. Talon soon came and sat down next to her, munching on a piece of bread.

After a few minutes of silence, Talon mused, "I wonder how they live off of only eating grass and hay.

Lux glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow. "What's with that?"

"Well…" Talon shrugged. "I just can't see myself eating grass and hay for a living."

"Well are you a horse?" Lux asked, laughing on the inside at Talon's comment.

Talon looked down at her, a glint in his eye. "If I was, would you still love me?"

Lux turned away, cheeks coloring. _Why?_ "Um…" She mumbled intelligently, her heart rate increasing exponentially. "I… uh… um… I don't know."

She heard Talon laugh, and whirled on him, cheeks burning with embarrassment. She punched his arm repeatedly, yelling, "I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you!"

This only made Talon laugh harder, and he grabbed her arm to prevent her from hitting him. Lux slumped against him, defeated and tired from her outburst. She dropped her arms, moving her head to lie in his lap. "You suck."

"Whatever you say." He looked up at the horses with a smile, and Lux felt his fingers running through her hair. As much as Lux hated to admit it, she really enjoyed it when he did that. It felt nice and calming.

Lux closed her eyes, sighing in content. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, with the way it was beating.

Lux would've liked to stay that way forever, but a few minutes later, Talon poked her in the cheek, saying, "We should get going. We shouldn't stop in one place for too long."

Reluctantly, Lux climbed out of Talon's lap and returned to their horses.

They hadn't resumed riding for long when a horrible smell reached them. Wincing, Lux instinctively reached up to pinch her nose. The horses obviously smelled it too, because they became restless, snorting and shaking their heads as they trotted along.

"What the hell is that?" Talon asked in confusion, glancing around. As they passed a small cluster of trees, the answer was presented to them.

A creature was currently devouring a tree, acid slopping everywhere. It was about the size of a human, with a large armored head that took up about half its body. It looked like a really weird cross between a dinosaur and a caterpillar, and Lux almost laughed at the ridiculousness of that thought, if not for the acid dripping everywhere. The smell was definitely emanating from the monster.

"Uh…" Lux almost couldn't believe her eyes. "What in the world is that thing?"

"I'm… not sure." Talon said slowly. "Let's try not to mess with it."

They had moved past it and were about to enter another patch of trees when it raised its head and looked right at them.

"Oh, shit." Talon cursed, whipping his reins. "Run!"

Both horses sped up into a gallop, fleeing from the strange creature. Looking back, Lux saw that the thing was chasing them, gaining on them despite its short legs. "Um… Talon?!" Lux shouted. "It's gaining on us!"

Talon flung a few daggers backwards, but they only bounced off its armored head and served no purpose other than to irritate it. "Can you bind it?" Talon shouted, flinging another handful of daggers.

Lux withdrew her baton from her backpack, almost dropping it in the process from the speed they were moving at, and fired a light binding at the creature. The binding expanded as it hit, but was broken in a second as the dinocaterpillar barreled right through. "Nope!" Lux yelled back.

At this moment, a glop of acid flew past them, completely melting and burning a patch of grass right in front of Lux's horse. Her horse reared up as its hooves sank into the burned ground, neighing in pain. Lux was thrown off, landing ungracefully in a pile on the ground. Lux scrambled to a kneeling position, watching in horror as the creature neared. Its mouth opened, and Lux assumed it was getting ready to shoot another ball of acid at her. Closing her eyes, she waited for her fate.

"NO!" She heard Talon shout in the background, and whipped around to see him fling a handful of daggers into the dinocaterpillar's mouth.

A scream of pain and rage came from the creature, and while it was momentarily distracted, Talon charged it, taking out its eyes with two more daggers.

The creature began turning in circles, shooting acid randomly and screaming in anger. Talon broke off to one side, circling back to Lux. "Now, Lux! Before he hits us with the acid!" He yelled as he neared her, struggling to be heard.

Lux rose, releasing her baton. It began spinning in the air in front of her, and a red line appeared from its center, aimed right at the creature's face.

Lux gathered all her magic power, and forcefully extended both arms at her baton, staggering her legs and bending her knees to stabilize herself. "Hiiiya!"

A bright flash illuminated the entire area, and a huge laser shot from the baton, vaporizing anything in its path.

When the light faded, the creature had been reduced to a pile of ashes in a puddle of acid. A creaking sound was heard, and numerous trees that were in the path of the laser fell to the ground with loud crashes, causing both of them to wince. A huge rivet was left in the ground, the grass burned away and the revealed dirt still smoking.

Talon whistled, impressed. "Woah. That was definitely not what I was expecting." Talon's horse whinnied happily, having calmed down after seeing that the creature was gone.

Lux sat down on the ground, feeling a little drained of energy from the magnitude of the spell. "Like I said-"

"There's a lot I don't know about you?" Talon finished with a smirk, leading his horse over to her.

"Yep." Lux smiled, rising to her feet.

"In any case…" Talon said, glancing past Lux. "Doesn't look like your horse survived that."

Lux turned to find her horse lying on the ground, holes appearing in its flesh, exposing the skeleton. "Oh no…" Lux breathed in horror, her smile fading.

"Looks like the acid hit it." Talon rode up next to Lux. "We probably shouldn't touch it. Acid's everywhere."

Lux nodded mutely, not sure what to think. Talon offered her a hand, and she took it, upon which he pulled her up into his saddle behind him.

Lux wrapped her arms around Talon's waist to avoid falling off the horse, and cast a final backwards glance at the remains of the creature. The pile was still smoking from the heat of the laser, and Lux retched from the smell.

"Please don't throw up on me." Talon said with a laugh as he spurred his horse into a slow trot.

"Don't worry, I won't." Lux reassured, resting her head on Talon's back. "Although, if I were to throw up, I'd make sure you-"

"Don't you dare." Talon warned, cutting her off. "I'll wipe it off on you."

"Ew!" Lux almost actually vomited from the thought.

Talon laughed, but said nothing more on the topic.

Soon, the grassland gradually faded away. Rocks began poking out from the ground, and trees became very sparse. Mountains loomed in the distance, with one particularly large one dominating the sky ahead of them. "Mount Gargantuan." Talon mused aloud. "The pass is around the foot of that mountain."

Lux leaned around Talon to look ahead at the mountain, taking in its sheer height. "It's so much taller than the others.

"Yep." Talon said. "That's why it's called Mount Gargantuan. Supposedly, a tribe of warriors lives on it's slopes, but nobody has confirmed it. Everyone who attempted to climb the mountain has vanished."

Lux shivered. "Spooky."

Night fell as they neared the mountain, and the moon rose, casting the land below in a silver sheen.

"Oh, man." Talon surveyed their surroundings, slowing his horse to a walk. "We need to find a place to camp."

Ahead of them was a large lake, glimmering as the moonlight reflected off its surface. Lux noticed the silhouette of a woman with long silver hair, standing next to the lake and staring out over it. A large crescent-shaped blade was stuck in the ground by her side.

"Talon, look." Lux pointed. "There's someone there."

"So there is." Talon said. "And that's quite a dangerous-looking blade she's got there."

At that moment, the horse misstepped, sending a pebble bouncing down towards the lake. Lux winced at the sound, knowing it would draw her attention.

The woman whirled, picking up her blade. Lux saw that she had a strange circular tattoo on her forehead. "Who goes there?" She called warily, narrowing her eyes.

Talon rode out into full view onto the lakeshore, having no other choice. "We're just travellers, passing through. We're searching for a place to stay the night."

"What?" The woman snorted in disbelief. "Why would you be looking for a place to stay out here?"

"Well…" Talon said slowly, as both of them dismounted. "This is kind of where we ended up as night fell."

"How can I trust you?" The woman didn't drop her guard, and Lux wondered what had happened to her in the past that she was so wary of people.

"Nothing I can say will make you trust me." Talon said, walking forward with his hands up and flipping his hood off. "It's your choice to believe my story or not."

The woman narrowed her eyes, dropping her sword a little. "You don't look like anyone I know… who's that behind you?"

Lux followed Talon's lead, flipping her hood off.

"Where do you come from?" The woman demanded after a few seconds.

"Demacia." Talon answered, and Lux prayed she hadn't been wronged by a Demacian.

The woman sighed, walking up to them. "You want a place to stay, you say?"

"Yes." Talon responded. "Just one night."

"Very well. Follow me." The woman turned and began walking away, Lux and Talon following with the horse in tow.

As she was about to turn off the lakeshore and into the hills, she turned and said, "Oh, by the way, my name is Diana."


End file.
